The Latest: Trump calls comments by Danish leader 'nasty'

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Latest on U.S. President Donald Trump and his desire to buy the Arctic territory of Greenland (all times local): 10 p.m. President Donald Trump says he scrapped his trip to Denmark because the prime minister made a "nasty" statement when she rejected his idea to buy Greenland as an absurdity.

President Donald Trump walks to Marine One after speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, in Washington. Trump is headed to Kentucky.

A boat navigates at night next to icebergs in eastern Greenland. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone a visit to Denmark by tweet on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion."

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment on US President's cancellation of his scheduled State Visit, in front of the State Department in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone a visit to Denmark by tweet on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion." (Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix)

New York University student researchers sit on a rock overlooking the Helheim glacier in Greenland. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone an early September visit to Denmark by tweet Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion."

A large Iceberg floats away as the sun sets near Kulusuk, Greenland. Greenland is where Earth's refrigerator door is left open, where glaciers dwindle and seas begin to rise. Scientists are hard at work there, trying to understand the alarmingly rapid melting of the ice. For Greenland is where the planet's future is being written.

A helicopter carrying New York University air and ocean scientist David Holland and his team sits on the ice as they install a radar and GPS at the Helheim glacier, in Greenland. Scientists are hard at work there, trying to understand the alarmingly rapid melting of the ice.

Early morning fog shrouds homes in Kulusuk, Greenland. In tiny Kulusuk, resident Mugu Utuaq says the winter that used to last as long as 10 months when he was a boy, can now be as short as five months. Scientists are hard at work in Greenland, trying to understand the alarmingly rapid melting of the ice.

Mugu Utuaq, left, reloads his rifle as he rides with other boats hunting whales near Kulusuk, Greenland. Summer in 2019 is hitting the island hard with record-shattering heat and extreme melt. Scientists estimate that by the end of the summer, about 440 billion tons of ice, maybe more, will have melted or calved off Greenland's giant ice sheet.

Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen speaks to the media after the Nordic Prime Ministers' Meeting in Reykjavik, on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019. Greenland has again stolen the limelight when its premier reiterated that the world's largest island is "not for sale" after U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of buying the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic.

The sun sets over Nuuk, Greenland. A spokeswoman for Denmark's royal palace says U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to postpone a visit to Denmark next month was "a surprise." Trump announced his decision by tweet after the Danish prime minister dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion."

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment on US President's cancellation of his scheduled State Visit, in front of the State Department in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone a visit to Denmark by tweet on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion." (Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment about US President's cancellation of his scheduled State Visit, in front of the State Department in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone a visit to Denmark by tweet on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion." (Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment to the media on US President's cancellation of his scheduled State Visit, in front of the State Department in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone a visit to Denmark by tweet on Tuesday Aug. 20, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion." (Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix)

Brian Rougeux, NYU Field Safety Officer, installs a GPS antenna at the Helheim glacier, in Greenland. An NYU team is tracking what's happening in Greenland from both above and below. The head of the New York University team, air and ocean scientist David Holland, calls Greenland "the end of the planet" referring to geography more than the future. Yet in many ways Greenland is where the planet's warmer and watery future is being written.

A woman stands next to an antenna at an NYU base camp at the Helheim glacier in Greenland. Summer 2019 is hitting the island hard with record-shattering heat and extreme melt. Scientists estimate that by the end of the summer, about 440 billion tons of ice, maybe more, will have melted or calved off Greenland's giant ice sheet.

A boat navigates next to a large iceberg in eastern Greenland. Greenland's ice has been melting for more than 20 years, but in 2019, it's as if Earth's refrigerator door has been left open, and it means a potentially large rise in the world's sea levels.

August 22, 2019

Trump says, "You don't talk to the United States that way, at least under me." Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the whole thing "an absurd discussion" and said she was "disappointed and surprised" that Trump had canceled his visit.

Trump says Frederiksen's comment labeling his idea as absurd "was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to say was say, 'No, we wouldn't be interested.'" Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the U.S. ally, and Frederiksen said the U.S. remains one of Denmark's close allies.

__ 6:35 p.m. President Donald Trump does not appreciate Denmark's rejection of his idea to buy Greenland. The American leader told reporters on Wednesday that "all they had to say was, 'No, we'd rather not do that.'"

Instead, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the idea "an absurd discussion" and said she was "disappointed and surprised" that Trump canceled his Sept. 2-3 visit to Denmark in a tweet earlier in the day.

Trump, leaving the White House for an event in Kentucky, said Frederiksen's comments were "nasty," adding "You don't talk to the United States like that," at least during his presidency. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

Fredericksen said the U.S. remains one of Denmark's close allies. Denmark's royals had invited Trump but the palace says they were blindsided by the tweet canceling the trip.

9 a.m.

The prime minister of Denmark says she is "disappointed and surprised" by U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cancel his visit to Denmark after she called Trump's idea of buying Greenland, Denmark's semi-autonomous Arctic territory, "an absurd discussion."

Trump, who was scheduled to visit Denmark on Sept. 2-3 as part of a European tour, tweeted his decision early Wednesday. The cancellation stunned Danes and blindsided the Danish royal palace, with spokeswoman Lene Balleby telling The Associated Press it came as "a surprise" to the royal household, which had formally invited Trump.

"Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time," Trump said.

The vast island of Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, has a population of 56,000 and has 80% of its land mass covered by a 1.7 million-square-kilometer (660,000 square-mile) ice sheet.